Thriller: Guillotine

Say what you will about the French, but back in the day, they certainly had a flair for public executions. The ominous sight of the guillotine blade slowly going up and quickly coming down really made an impression. Thesp-turned-director Ida Lupino capitalized on that inherent drama in one of the nine episodes she directed for the classic Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series Thriller. A convicted murderer hatches a plan to cheat the blade, but irony might still kill him in “Guillotine,” which screens Saturday at UCLA.

This episode of Thriller will be presented as part of a sort of triple-crown of macabre anthology episodes helmed by Lupino. Some of us might rank Outer Limits above Alfred Hitchcock Presents¸ but nobody will argue with The Twilight Zone and real fans will defend Thriller to our dying breaths. “Guillotine” is from the second season, so we no longer get the catch-phrase: “As sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a thriller.” However, this episode introduces the guest stars as severed heads falling into a basket. It is a crude super-imposed video trick by today’s standard, but the spirit is still delightfully ghoulish.

Robert Lamont was sentenced to death for murdering his wife Babette’s lover, which makes her feel rather guilty. Evidently, if the executioner, a.k.a. Monsieur de Paris, the “headman,” blows off the appointment, or dies himself before a successor is announced, the accused walks free—sort of like when the rope broke in the Old West gallows. Therefore, Lamont asks his wife to repeat her infidelity, to keep his head attached. If she can’t keep him in bed, then she should put him into the ground.

Film Noir was definitely Lupino’s forte, as you can see from this stylish episode. Even though it is not supernatural in nature (unlike some episodes), her dark visual sensibilities give this historical Thriller an almost gothic feel.

Twilight Zone: The Howling Man

It was sort of horror and sometimes science fiction, but The Twilight Zone was really a genre unto itself. Still, it is somewhat strange to think how few of the old school horror movie stars turned up in guest-starring roles (of course, Karloff had his own competing shows at the time, Thriller and The Veil). However, not only did the great John Carradine take a detour through the “dimension of sight, sound, and mind,” his episode also happens to be one of the most gothic of the series. Yet, it remains a perennial fan and critic favorite. Celebrating its 60^th anniversary this year, “The Howling Man” (S2E5) airs this Monday morning on Syfy.

Charles Beaumont, the third great Zone writer after Rod Serling and Richard Matheson, adapted “Howling Man” from his own short story—and he has been ripped off several times since (most notably by I Trapped the Devil). During the aftermath of WWI, David Ellington commenced a walking tour of southern Europe in search of meaning. Caught in a freak deluge, he tries to take refuge in an austere abbey, but the rustic brothers try to turn him away. It is only when he collapses from weakness that they relent. However, when he comes to, he confronts Brother Jerome, demanding to know why they imprisoned the bearded man wailing in a dungeon cell. Of course, the monk tries to convince him that is not a man, but rather someone much more sinister.

Tightly helmed by veteran TV director Douglas Heyes, “The Howling Man” has lost none of its power in sixty years. It is scary, but it is even more disturbing on a philosophical and metaphysical level. It is easy for viewers to place themselves in Ellington’s position and imagine the resulting guilt and torment. Technically, it is also a great TV production, featuring sets worthy of the old Universal monster movies and cinematographer George T. Clemens’ surprisingly dramatic angles and framing.